Category: Havana

It is a five 5 hour drive back to Havana. We stop briefly for a comfort break and arrive back at our hotel at 14.00 having been told that is when our rooms will be ready. That is not the case and we are told to wait until 16.00. This is really annoying as we want to go for lunch without carrying loads of kit around and have a final shoot in Havana. We can leave our suitcases with the concierge but it does means carrying full backpacks around in the mid-day heat. Less than ideal.

People have different plans for the afternoon but a group of us head back to what we call the LP bar. It has a music theme and all the table mats are LP mock-ups. The food and company is good. Fully sated we set off for one last photography session.

The light is perfect and I decide to set myself the challenge showing the essence of Havana using light and shadow. I felt I failed in this when we first arrived so have something to prove to myself and I am delighted with the results.

My new room has a great view of the pool, which looks inviting…

… but I do not have time for such niceties. I have photos to analyse before our presentation. We meet on the 2nd floor lobby for a final review. We all have completely different styles and without exception everyone has made tremendous progress and met their personal goals.

Matt has told us we are going to a very special restaurant for dinner. He is not wrong. It is THE place to go and be seen in Havana. We enter the building through a courtyard with a sweeping staircase.

We climb right to the top storey where there is a magnificent roof-top bar with great views over the city.

Our table is not ready so we order cocktails and enjoy the ambience. What a great last night. Now the problem with swanky restaurants is that they have swankier prices. By UK standards it was still not hugely expensive but by Cuban standards it was. Our bar bill alone was more than the cost of previous night’s meals and drinks.

This led to a problem when ordering food as people had not brought enough money out with them. In the knowledge that credit cards are generally not accepted and it is hit and miss whether credit cards, US$ or Euros will be acceptable, I took them all out with me, so did not have a problem. Not everyone did likewise and some people could not pay their bill. I will not bore you with the minutiae of the problem but settling the bill took easily over an hour and somehow I ended up being the accountant for the evening. Not easy as the alcohol had been flowing!!  

I certainly needed more when we left the restaurant! I will say that the food was very good indeed.

The important thing to know about Cuba is that things don’t always go according to plan and you need to be flexible. But it is just the most amazing country with so much to offer the open minded traveller. I shall return….

It was no forgone conclusion but Matt has managed to arrange a photo shoot at the Cuba National Ballet School this morning. He says it was the hardest negotiating he has ever had to do and in addition to payment it involved him ‘donating’ his Bose speaker! Personally I found this a very challenging assignment. We were told not to be intrusive and positioning myself suitably to get both dancers and light right was not my forte.

It turns out I did very much better at photographing the Ballet School itself.

We then had a couple of hours before lunch for some street photography. I felt so liberated after the confines of the ballet school and captured an eclectic assortment of activities. I really enjoyed this assignment and as you can see from the photos below there was a wealth of material!

After lunch we made our way to the outdoor boxing arena where a group of children were enjoying their training session. They really go for it but also seem to be having great fun.

We ended the afternoon by taking bike taxis to La Florita which was Ernest Hemingway’s favourite bar. Whilst waiting for the group to assemble I spotted a wedding car. I was surprised to see a same sex couple in it. I had not realised Cuba was so liberal in its attitudes. Since 2022 Cuba has legalised same sex marriage and has liberal views towards the LGBT community.

I have to say the bike transport felt decidedly dangerous and I was much relieved when we finally disembarked. However, despite our fear it was good fun and at times hilarious as the drivers jostled to be the first to arrive at our destination.

It came as no surprise that La Florita was heaving with tourists. Of course, we added to that number but it simply is a place you have to visit when in Havana. We just had the one daiquiri unlike many of the other rather boisterous customers.

We found a really cool restaurant for our evening meal. The food was excellent and the live music also very good.

For some reason Paul, Claire, Matt and I decided the night was still young and found ourselves a friendly bar in a back alley. Surprisingly we all felt OK the next day. There’s something about rum….

This morning we are going to meet Roberto Salas who was personal photographer to Fidel Castro and we believe he will have some interesting anecdotes to relate from his long association with both Fidel and Che.

We walk out of the hotel at 09.30 and look around for our transport. We look in disbelief and amusement at today’s taxis. They must be two of the oldest vehicles in Havana; a blue sedan with broken windows, a scant amount of leather covering the horsehair and springs on the seats, holes through the rust on the floor to the street and little in the way of suspension. No-one rushed to clamber into this gem but the alternative looked little better. Granted it looked slightly more roadworthy, but it was in effect a converted 1940’s pig van with bench seats along the walls and a half flap at the rear for animals (or in this case passengers) to clamber through.

We park on a leafy street. Roberto greets us warmly and directs us through to his studio. Matt has advised us that Roberto is not always very accommodating, but he seems warm and friendly this morning and it bodes well. He will be 82 next week on 17 November and started his long and prestigious career when he was just a teenager. All of the iconic shots of Cuba, Fidel and Che will have been taken by him or his father.

Roberto is very chatty and tells us all about his career and how he started out as a boy carrying the camera gear for his father, Osvaldo. He also includes interesting anecdotes that give an insight into Fidel’s character. He tells us about the time that Fidel wanted some copies made of some photos his father had taken.

It was 1955. Osvaldo agreed to make the copies but said he would need money for the paper and that the cost would be $10 and Fidel agreed. Roberto was given the prints to take to Fidel. When he entered the house there was a pile of money on the kitchen table and men were sitting around the table counting it. He gave the prints to Fidel who said ‘They are marvellous. Wonderful. Thank your father so much”

Roberto said “Yes but my father said that you owe him $10 for the paper.” Fidel patted his pockets held out his hands openly and said I don’t have $10. Roberto said “What do you mean you don’t have $10? Look at all that money on the table. Of course you have $10.”

Roberto said this is the first time he ever heard a lecture from Fidel. It went along the lines of “That money is sacred. That money belongs to the cause. I cannot touch that money. It is for the revolution. Tell your father when the revolution is over I’ll pay him back.”

When Roberto went back to his father and told him the story his father was furious with him of course.

Now we go forward to 1961. A soldier came over to Fidel and asked him for a job. Fidel said “Yes I will give you a job.” The soldier said “Thank you but can you give me an advance on my pay? I can’t last until the end of the month with no money.” Again Fidel patted his pockets and said “I don’t have any money. Can anybody lend me some money to advance to the soldier?” Roberto put his hand in his pocket at which stage Fidel put his hand on his wrist and said “No, not you Roberto. I still owe you $10.”

Roberto said how amazing to remember that, when you consider the number of things that had happened in the intervening period. Did he ever pay the $10 back? I don’t think so but the good thing is that he did remember that he owed it!

We had the opportunity to buy prints which I did. I felt that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to buy something unique. We then swapped vehicles and I was treated to the falling apart blue car as we drove into centra Havana to photograph classic cars in three very different locations. Waves were breaking impressively over the harbour wall.

Our first location is the taxi rank in the tourist centre of Havana. It proved to be quite difficult to take unusual shots. People were thronging around and taxis moving every time you thought you had the shot nailed. It turns out other photographers were also a major nuisance – often from our group! I’m not mentioning names but there were definitely some in the group who liked to hog the space or walk blithely into shot as the shutter was released.

I was pretty unsuccessful at the next location too, which was a bustling square but I did manage one of my favourite shots of the holiday. I love how the green on the walls matches exactly the green on the car. A simple shot but it has impact.

Whilst walking to our third location I was horrified to see that someone was living in this totally derelict building, which is immediately opposite the pristine Capitol building. A city of contrasts….

Our final location is where the locals shop. It is busy, tatty and vibrant. There is an energy and it would be easy to spend all day here. The photo opportunities are endless. Such a marvellous place for people watching. What is also remarkable is despite the faded facades, shabbiness and graffiti there is very little litter.

We stop in a tiny bistro for lunch which is surprisingly good and then make our way to a cigar factory. There we watch cigars being made and are given coffee, rum and a cigar to try out. The walls are covered with football scarves and currency from around the world and cigar boxes are suspended from the ceiling.

Our final brief for the day is visual impact. I set off with renewed energy and focus and am pleased with what I manage to produce. I have definitely made progress. The two shots below were taken an hour apart. I thought having the moped in view would have more visual impact but I actually prefer the earlier shot. It is cleaner and less busy.

I love this piece of graffiti and wish someone had walked past the doorway with an ice-cream. That would have made the shot just perfect.

However my favourite photo for this assignment is the one below.

It has been a long day and we have walked miles around the streets of Havana. The day is not yet over as we shall have another long walk to tonight’s restaurant. As it turns out the walk is even longer than it should have been due to some dubious map reading; adding a good mile to our journey. Nobody has high expectations for the meal, but it turns out that tonight’s venue is as good as last night’s was bad. The restaurant is set within a large family home and apparently many of the relatives are fishermen so the seafood is fresh and of excellent quality. We have a truly amazing meal for a very reasonable price.

We leave the restaurant, walk across the beautiful Plaza de San Francisco de Asis and grab some very welcome taxis back to the hotel. I sleep very soundly indeed.

This morning as our welcome orientation to Havana we have a tour of the city in classic cars. But before this, we start the day with a hearty breakfast in the chic hotel restaurant, which also has great views of El Malacon (the seafront).

On the way back to my room I sneak a preview of the rooftop pool, which also has great views.

Parked outside the hotel are four shiny open top classic cars – two pink, one green and one purple. We choose our car and set off. What fun!

We cruise past the Capitol building….

…and into Revolution Square, where we stop for a brief photo opportunity.

We swap cars and head on around Havana. I am surprised by the number of leafy, green avenues and the juxtaposition of modern buildings butting up to the crumbling relics of former grandeur. We park on El Malacon. The wind is strong and large waves are crashing over the promenade wall. There has obviously been a big storm out at sea but the weather in Havana is currently exactly what you would expect in the Caribbean – hot and sunny!

We arrive back at the hotel feeling eager now to explore Havana on foot. We set off for lunch and our first assignment.

Matt, our tutor leads us to a little restaurant tucked away in the cobbled back streets. He shows us his accommodation which is opposite the restaurant and pretty basic. Certainly not as nice as our plush hotel. We settle outside and order lunch. The service is terrible but eventually the drinks turn up and they actually were worth waiting for. My caipirinha is quite excellent.

We are then let loose to wander the shabby streets and try and capture the essence of Cuba. I am like a child in a sweet shop. This city is an assault on the senses and I take far too many pictures with little thought of composition or the assignment in hand. Surprisingly, amongst my aimless clicking, there are some keepers.

This has been a long day and it is not over yet. We have a short time to freshen up before drinks on the rooftop terrace at 18.00 followed by dinner at Casa Migles – a Swedish/Cuban restaurant. We have high hopes as we enter the the restaurant and are shown to our table. This is a grand old building with unusual artwork. For example a wrench hung on the wall with a frame hung around it. There were also cups and saucers, saucepans etc given the same treatment. How cool?

The reality was that from a huge menu there were no starters available and only 3 main courses left. I opt for the fish with potatoes. It feels like a safe option. How wrong can a girl be? What I received was a grey piece of dry fish with half a boiled potato and it turns out that half of that was black and inedible. I feel that eating out will not be the highlight of the holiday! On a plus side the mojitos were excellent and as it was Eleanor’s birthday we consumed a few.

We return to the hotel and head straight to the bar. We learned last night that the bartenders have little cocktail making prowess and the safest option is to drink beer and Cuba libres. Everyone is very willing to buy rounds and as the drink is on the inexpensive side, we probably consume slightly more than we should. There is a theme here! We are joined by an annoying local who makes out that he is staying at the hotel and is an artist. Well he is certainly an artist – of the con variety. His main aim is to try chatting us up, talk bullshit and see if he can extract drinks from us. He is like one of those annoying flies that you can’t get rid of, continually buzzing around your ears. It takes a good hour but eventually he gets the message.